


The Viper of Konoha

by VengefulHybrid (Casimir)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Actual dangerous Madara, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Edo tensei bastardization, Kankuro hates his life, Other, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-11-22 17:50:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11385288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Casimir/pseuds/VengefulHybrid
Summary: In between *now* and *then*, something doesn't quite go right. Kankuro finds himself in a familiar village, but not the one he expected.Chapter Five (30/07/2017): Difficult decisions:“Who are you?” she snarls. Nervous sweat trickles down the back of his spine. He swallows, stalling for a second, then tells her everything.“My name,” he starts with, “is Kankuro.”





	1. The fourth shinobi world war, or Enter: Kankuro!

**Author's Note:**

> I've been super into time travel and dimension hopping fics recently, ever since I started reading Blackkatmagic's Reverse (which I'm sure if you're here you've probably read. If not, go read it). 
> 
> Since everyone uses the fairly obvious choice for time travel shenanigans I wanted to go with something a little off the beaten path. It's already a little out of control and I'm kinda writing by the seat of my pants because it's been literally like ten years since I wrote Naruto fanfic ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> But, here we are.
> 
> Ain't got no real beta, ain't got no real plan we write like it's 2009

Konoha had fallen first. Some sort of childish revenge by Madara. They had tried to evacuate the civilians, but only a ninja could survive the sort of full frontal assault that Madara’s forces used. And with each person that fell, another joined the ranks of Madara's modified edo tensei. Purple, disease filled veins bulged at their temples. Their eyes were dead inside. He had no qualms about turning family member against family member, their bodies falling to his curse before they even hit the floor.

 

Team A, they called themselves. Kankuro and his siblings. Naruto and his team. Team B had been Kiba's team and Gai's. Team C was the Ino-Shika-Cho group with Tenzo, Sai and Konohamaru.

 

They had decided to split up into groups, as it was easier for stealth missions like these. The war had turned to guerrilla tactics shortly after Suna and Iwa fell to Madara. The man travelled with his entourage of zombie forces, making him hard to pin down and attack, but they still tried to force him on the defensive. Unfortunately, none of their pushes ever seemed to work. A ragtag group of Kiri nin encountered Team A, once, some time after the third month camped out in a heavily forested area that had once been Fire Country. They had encouraged the group to join them.  _ We’re going to take Madara out _ , they said; had figured out a strategy they were sure would work, and the more hands the better.

 

They met the same shinobi again two weeks later, or rather, what remained of them.

 

The sky was dark. It always was, nowadays. Kankuro watched the starless sky and dreamed of the desert. It was probably somewhere around 3am, he supposed, although the moon with the great Sharingan half etched in it never changed, so times like am and pm didn't matter anymore. All he knew was that soon he would wake Gaara and it would be his turn to watch the barrier seals that Uzumaki had erected.

 

The boy was talented. The seals looked more like messy scribbles to Kankuro, scratched into wood in the half light when everyone was dead on their feet and trying not to dread the state of themselves when they awoke. Blankets and beds were luxuries of the past, as was fire, they discovered early into the war. It attracted the Edo Tensei zombies.

 

The three Konoha nin were bundled together, Sasuke in the center, sharing as much warmth as they could. He was actually a very good heater. He could regulate his body temperature a little bit higher than the average person, which meant he was often the center of their cuddle piles. Gaara, Kankuro and Temari sat opposite them. 

 

The weeks-- months, even-- were wearing the shinobi thin. Dark circles heavily indented everyone's eyes, not just Gaara’s anymore. Naruto wondered, and not for the first time, how he'd stayed awake for so long. They were supposed to be on a rotating watch, but even the Suna shinobi’s eyes were starting to droop after the long days with no rest.

 

Kankuro could feel his eyes slowly drift shut. He tried to blink away the sleep, but after so long running and running it was barely a battle in the end. 

 

The fireball through their midst, however, was a wakeup call of the highest magnitude. The dry, barren grass burst into flames immediately and was swiftly followed by the trees around them. The seals etched onto the tree bark cracked and shattered as every still living shinobi leapt to their feet. Sasuke’s sword crackled as he drew it. Surrounding their makeshift camp the pale creatures that were once human, and were once called friends, began their attack.

 

Even with his poor taijutsu skills, Kankuro beat back those that he could. His puppets had been destroyed so long ago with no chance to repair them. He threw the heavy body of one shinobi over his shoulders towards his siblings and Gaara’s sand deftly sliced it’s damaged body in half. Next to him Sakura’s fists obliterated three in a concussive blast. Kakashi moved like lightning, but the constant barrage of jutsu from all around them was beginning to wear on the much older shinobi.

 

None of them saw the exact moment he fell.

 

One moment he had a kunai buried in the throat of an attacking zombie and the next… The next, purple veins began to pump underneath his skin. He turned paler the longer he stood there, as if the creature he was becoming was unsteady on it’s feet. Naruto’s wailing cry for their sensei felt like every living ninja had had their heart ripped out in that moment.

 

His tears splattered the ground. It took Sakura’s entire strength to hold him back, knowing that any second the creature that was once their sensei would attack with the full force of the Copy-Ninja’s arsenal.

 

“Fall back!” Gaara commanded, a huge wall of sand separating the team from the reincarnated zombies sprung up around them. “Retreat!”

 

Naruto was inconsolable for days. None of them could get through to the man who scribbled angrily on the last of their blank scrolls, and the floor and the trees with blunt kunai scavenged from the wastelands. His plan seemed to be coming together, however, because one day he turned to his team with an ink brush and well in his hands and explained.

 

Using Kurama’s power as a battery, and some especially tricky business with his father’s hiraishin seals, Naruto’s plan was to send them all back in time. The details of the seal exactly went completely over Kankuro’s head, but the ninja knew what he was talking about-- or at least it seemed like he did, because Sakura only bashed him over the head once during the whole explanation.

 

The ink was cold on his skin. Sasuke and Sakura had been the first to be painted, followed by Naruto under Gaara’s steady hand and everyone else’s watchful eyes. Then the Sand siblings had their turn.

 

It was barely dry when the next attack came.

 

None of them could have forseen it. Kakashi’s chidori tore a great hole through Temari’s chest. Her eyes, wide with fear, locked onto her siblings. The former sensei was missing his sharingan eye, finally taken back by Madara, but his aim had been true. The chirping lightning faded but the zombie couldn’t pull his arm from Temari’s limp body. In her death, she protected them.

 

However, they didn’t have time to mourn. Kakashi was not the only edo tensei creation that was attacking their camp. They fought as a unit, each member of Team A fighting with all the strength that grief could give them. They were driven back against the high rock face that Naruto had used to etch the prototype seal onto. Blood splattered against their surroundings, dying the once quite beautiful artistry an angry red. Suddenly, Gaara’s sand swept Kankuro behind the group. Naruto turned on him, a giant wind shuriken throwing some unknown shinobi away from them. He grabbed Kankuro by the bare shoulders and lit up  _ magnificently _ .

 

Naruto’s chakra bubbled a vicious and angry red. His hands burnt where it touched Kankuro, and the seal inked on his skin came alive under his fingers.

 

“I only have time to send one of us back. I'm sorry.”

 

“Send someone else back, not me! I’m fucking useless!”

 

But there were already lights dancing on the floor around his feet. Naruto staggered, chakra drained not quite to the point of exhaustion, but closely enough. Gaara, behind him, turned his head to smile sadly at his brother. The great wall of sand he had built wouldn't last much longer. His eyes seemed to say goodbye, more than any words could. Sakura and Sasuke’s bodies were already tainted. Without the whole group, it was only a matter of time before they all fell.

 

“Naruto! Don't you dare!” But the roar of the wind carried away Kankuro’s voice. Somewhere in the distance, birds chirped.

 

\---

 

Pale sunlight filters through a gap in the white curtains that cover the window. The boy in bed rolls over, pulling the covers over his face tighter, and groans through the haze of sleep. His hair sticks upwards in fluffy brown spikes, stuck in place by his restless sleep. Kankuro peels his eyes open. 

 

_ Weird _ . He thinks to himself.  _ This is wrong. _

 

He rolls onto his back and stares at the white ceiling above him. The style of the room isn't of Suna. Too white, with no sand dusting the sparse shelves or stuck between Kankuro’s toes. He pushes himself out of the bed and onto the cool wooden floor. Finally, he can see himself in the mirror above the chest of drawers next to the door to his room.

 

Young.

 

Too young.

 

He has the same, pudgy cheeks from his youth. The same jaw that will be strong one day, in the spitting image of his father.

 

And also, unmistakably 8 years old.

 

Kankuro places his hands on the top of his drawers and stares himself in the eyes. 

 

_ You damn idiot, Naruto. I think you sent me back a bit further than you meant. _

 

Underneath his pajamas he can feel the tattoos curling around his midriff and upper arms. The seals twist in delicate loops over and around each other in never ending spirals. Naruto’s signature flair to his seals. They seem to move as you watch them, and Kankuro wouldn't be surprised to see that they do. They’re paler than when they were freshly inked on his skin that night, he notices. Instead of lingering, he steels himself and moves to the window. Outside, it’s just beginning to brighten up. The dawn light crests over the top of a huge mountainside, glittering through the treetops that surround the village around him. Three huge faces decorate the rock that towers over all of them.

 

Konoha, then.

 

Kankuro wracks his brain for the names of the three Hokage above him, not quite managing anything more than Senju. This isn't his village. As for the timeline of events, he has no idea what was coming and in what order. The Kyuubi, certainly, was yet to happen.

 

He grimaces and takes in more of the sights around him. There’s a yard below him, complete with a climbing frame and sand pit, surrounded by a wall and two large gates. An orphanage, he supposes, which he’s thankful for. At least he won't have to deal with the parents of whoever he had… displaced.

 

It’s early, but he pulls the closet open and searches for something practical to wear. He feels the loss of his traditional puppeteer's uniform sorely, knowing that he'll never be able to join their ranks again -- it would be tough to even get the materials to rebuild his puppets in Konoha, and he wouldn't be able to use Karasu again. Kankuro pulls on something simple; black pants wound with bandages to the knee and a plain black t-shirt with the Uzushio spiral on it's arms (he’s sure Naruto would have been pleased to see him in it, as it had become something of their Team’s symbol at the end of days).

 

He leaves the room, then makes his way out to the rest of the building. It’s set up like dozens of tiny apartments. Single rooms for bedrooms, a large bathroom at the end of the hallway that is currently taken up by a throng of shouting boys, and an area for laundry. They pay him no mind as he walks past them, then down the stairs. The door to the second floor below his room is shut with a large and vividly pink 'NO BOYS ALLOWED’ sign plastered across it, so he continues onwards to the ground floor.

 

It’s quieter down here, with no screaming masses of children waking up for the day. A few adults mill about at the edges. Here and there are even a few shinobi, Chuunin judging by their flak jackets, waiting for the kids to finish getting ready.

 

“Saito-kun!” One of the male shinobi waves.

 

Kankuro casts a glance around him, seeing that there is no one else he could be talking to, and waves back. Saito must be 'his’ name now.

 

“Get some breakfast, you're the first one awake! When everyone else gets up we can head to the academy.”

 

Letting out a breath of relief he didn't know he was holding, Kankuro nods to the shinobi. He won't have to try and get into the academy. Konoha was pretty famous for having scary, genius ninja graduate early. With any luck he isn't in a class with any of them.

 

His days begin to blur together. They are interspersed only with the nights that he wakes up screaming, drenched with fear-sweat and remembering Temari’s dying breath. His evenings are taken up with rigorous training in an attempt to build his stamina and chakra and control up as swiftly as  possible. Kankuro sleeps through classes, answering only what he needs to pass, throws chunks of eraser at a kunoichi with violet hair until she threatens to gut him, and spars lazily with the other students during training. His teachers despair, seeing what they think is potential in him, while Kankuro is just biding his time. The third shinobi world war has just been declared and the need for child soldiers goes unspoken. 

 

The Genin test is easy: produce a stable clone. And, finally, he is given his forehead protector and placed on a team.

 

Anko Mitarashi and Tsuzumi Sarugaku.

 

The kunoichi with her mess of long, violet hair and a boy who is quick to laugh and has an easy smile.

 

“You should put your hair up,” Kankuro said, tugging a strand of it. “You'll get it caught in something.”

 

“Shut up, weasel face.” She gives him a swift kick in the ankles, which smarts, but thankfully not nearly as much as the time Sakura punched him through a tree trunk.

 

He lets himself daydream as the other Genin are collected by their teachers. Sakura and Naruto and Sasuke haven’t even been born yet. One day in the future, those three kids will be born and together he'll help them save the world. He has to get stronger, his child body has only the barest of chakra reserves and although he has the knowledge of future generations, there was only so much he could do to use it. His chakra strings are weak, but usable, and his plans are to spend his first paycheck on the beginnings of his first new puppet.

 

“Team Four!” Their instructor calls, prompting Kankuro and his group to stand.

 

Their sensei sweeps into the room. They have long, black hair and piercing yellow eyes. Belatedly, Kankuro recognizes the violet clan markings that ring their -- or rather, his -- eyes and extend down his face. Orochimaru. He wears a long pair of deep purple hakama over a soft lavender kosode, decorated with delicate flowers, with wide and unassuming sleeves. Inside, Kankuro knows there must be a host of hidden weapons.

 

He casts a baleful look over the three children before him, quirks his fingers in a 'follow me’ gesture, and leaves.


	2. Manda, and the Forest of Death!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orochimaru reveals Team Four's teamwork challenge! Kankuro wants to go back to Suna. Anko learns a valuable lesson about long hair. Tsuzumi nearly gets flattened by a log.
> 
> All in a day's work for a time traveler.

“My name is Orochimaru. I'll be your Jounin sensei starting from today.”

 

They stand in one of the training grounds. There’s a huge and sprawling forest behind the man, looking quite ominous in the height of its dark trees.

 

“Aren't you one of the three Sannin?” Anko snarls. “What are you doing teaching kids?”

 

Something akin to anger flickers across Orochimaru’s features, but it’s swallowed in the blink of his eyes. “Because I'm needed.”

 

“I thought there was only one kunoichi in the Sannin.”

 

Kankuro resists the urge to cringe. In front of him stands one of the most dangerous ninja that Konoha has produced; the killer of the fourth Kazekage and the third Hokage -- both his father and the God of Shinobi, respectively. Beside him, Tsuzumi sniggers behind his hands.

 

“I'm a man.”

 

“And I want to die,” says Kankuro.

 

Anko kicks him in the ankle again. “I so can have long hair. You told me I'd get it caught, but Orochimaru-sensei has long hair and he's one of the Sannin.”

 

“Long hair is a sign of strength in a ninja. It says: I am untouchable.” 

 

The kunoichi looks smug. She sticks her tongue out at Kankuro and probably would have escalated to rude gestures, had Orochimaru not continued talking.

 

“You, however, are not untouchable.”

 

There’s a flare of pride up Kankuro's spine and although he feels a little bad at knowing he one-upped a child, he reminds himself that in this body he is one. He isn't 20 years old anymore, but barely 8. So he pushes his nose up with a thumb and waggles his fingers at Anko.

 

“Before you are officially given the title of Genin, I'm going to test the three of you on your teamwork. Fail, and I send you back to the academy.”

 

“WHAT?!”  

 

Orochimaru ignores her outburst and begins to walk towards the eerie looking forest. His steps are light and silent, even while wearing tall geta sandals. The three Genin follow behind him silently and Tsuzumi takes the chance to slide up next to Kankuro and introduce himself properly.

 

“Hi! I'm Tsuzumi. We've been in class together for a couple of years but I don't think we've really spoken, Saito-kun.”

 

“Let's get along then, Sarugaku-kun.” 

 

“Tsuzumi is fine! We're teammates now.” The boy grins brightly, his mood a little infectious even though their sensei is a murderous psychopath and their teammate is going to grow up to be a little baby version of Orochimaru.

 

“This training ground is affectionately called The Forest Of Death. You're going to travel the perimeter, collecting the scrolls I've hidden, and return here. You have two days. If you need to give up at any point, exit through one of the gates. But you and your teammates will fail and will be sent back to the academy.”

 

Knowing he will be fine during the test, even if it is a little excessive for a trio of newly minted Genin, Kankuro casts an assessing glance to his teammates. Anko will probably tough through it as she seems to be determined to prove herself, but he has no idea what Tsuzumi is capable of.

 

“Let's do it!” Anko charges forward, blazing past their sensei, with Tsuzumi hot on her heels.

 

Kankuro jogs to keep up with the other two and before he passes Orochimaru, he turns for one final question. “How many scrolls are there?”

 

Surprisingly, the snake Sannin answers him. “Twelve, of course.”

 

\---

 

The forest looks different enough to what Kankuro can remember. Traps in different places, no giant leeches that he can see. Their first obstacle, other than themselves and Anko’s aggressive leadership, is a huge log trap that nearly takes Tsuzumi off of his feet. The swinging pendulum roars through the pathway and just barely misses the boy by the tips of his spiky brown hair. He ducks just in time, flattening himself to the floor of the forest. Kankuro's heart feels like it will stop for a precious second as the log passes overhead of them. His body barely in tune with his mind’s reaction speed. 

 

“There! On the end of it!” Anko points out the first scroll.

 

Immediately she throws herself at it with a kunai in each hand to anchor herself to the bark in a valiant effort. The log, however, continues to swing at the same vicious pace, probably powered by a seal somewhere that Kankuro can't see. The swing of the log knocks Anko backwards and she snarls, twisting in the air to right herself and fall to her feet neatly.

 

Tsuzumi fares a little better, able to push chakra to his feet already to stick himself to the surface, but the speed of the log’s swing is their problem. He can barely move under the pressure of it. He clings to the side, arms as wide as they can go, and shouts at his teammates for help.

 

“Saito! Anko! This isn't fun anymore!”

 

Kankuro laughs. He channels his chakra to the tips of his fingers as best he can -- his chakra control isn't poor, but leaves a lot to be desired compared to his strength before -- and attaches the strings to the end of the log. It's momentum nearly throws him off of his feet but he doubles down and heaves backwards. Slowly, it begins to halt in its movement.

 

“Anko! Grab hold of me, I can't fuckin’ keep it still forever!”

 

The girl dashes over and grabs him around the waist. She drops her weight, stance low, and immediately Kankuro feels more stable. Tsuzumi makes a quick dash for the end of the log and tears the scroll sealed onto it off with a flourish.

 

“Yahoo!” He shouts, and leaps off. “You can let go now!”

 

Immediately the log begins to move again and Kankuro sighs in relief when Tsuzumi appears, holding the scroll aloft.

 

“It says 'swamp’.”

 

“Must be a hint,” Anko says, snatching the scroll from her teammate and shoving it into the pouch on her leg. “Let's keep moving!”

 

\---

 

That night, Kankuro takes first watch. He lays awake in the tree boughs that they made camp in and watches the stars twinkle overhead. They’ve collected eight of the required scrolls and are confident that they can find the rest in time. They had been hidden in the worst of places, dangling above a deep and treacherous swamp, literally tied to a giant tiger’s tail -- at that point Kankuro is sure Orochimaru is actually trying to kill them -- and even buried under the ground at the starting gate. Occasionally Kankuro could sense something hiding at the edge of his senses, but whenever he had gone to investigate it would always disappear. After the third time that afternoon, he assumes it’s their to-be sensei checking up on them and making sure they didn't actually die. He tests for genjutsu regularly, but the only whispers of it are for perception;  __ it says _ look away, don't come here _ .

 

It’s getting close to the time that he has to wake up Tsuzumi, but as Kankuro stands and makes his way over, stretching as he goes, he feels a distinct presence move into his limited range of perception. It’s been a long time since he’s seen the giant snake Manda. The last time anyone had had been the three Sannin and their summons’ final stand against Madara.

 

He leaves the tree, slipping down the wide trunk, and follows the powerful chakra until he finds the huge snake nestled amongst the roots of the trees. He’s much smaller, much younger, like Kankuro himself.

 

“Manda.” He says, watching the snake closely as it raises its head.

 

“How do you know me, boy?

 

“It's a long story.” Kankuro laughs. He stands back as the great snake sways back and forth, then settles back on his coils. “Maybe I'll tell you some time. Do you know where the rest of the scrolls Orochimaru-sensei hid are?”

 

“Perhaps. I can give you one now, but what would you give me in return?”

 

Kankuro thinks about the giant snake and bites back 'a quick and painless death, this time’. “How about knowledge?”

 

Yellow eyes squint dangerously. Manda rumbles, “What are you playing at?”

 

“Can ya promise not to let Orochimaru know?”

 

“What could you possibly know that he must not? If you are trying to be funny I will eat you, and they'll never find the body.” His coils shift tighter, almost imperceptibly, like a spring being wound.

 

Kankuro holds his hands up in a peaceful gesture. “Do you know of a man named Danzo?”

 

Manda nods.

 

“Some time soon, I don't know when, Danzo is going to offer Orochimaru a deal and it will end with him exiled from Konoha.” Kankuro might not know all of Konoha’s inner workings but Orochimaru's banishment was a point of contention in the army barracks, even when the man was accepted by their leadership. “I'm goin’ to change as much of the future as I can, starting with that.”

 

The snake lashes at him suddenly, huge maw open wider than Kankuro's entire body. It's fast, but Kankuro is faster. He wheels backwards on his hands, springs to his feet and has the strings ready for Karasu in the beat of a heart but-

 

Manda stops short. He stares Kankuro down.

 

“You're reaching for something that isn't there. What is it?”

 

“My puppet, Karasu. I don't have him anymore.”

 

“Replace him then.” As if it's that easy. Then, curling back in on himself, Manda spits out a small scroll at Kankuro's feet. “Number 12.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gently plays fast and loose with the Narutoverse. I figure Orochimaru wouldn't actually let them die, just maybe a little bit seriously injured. I feel like I should be having conversations with characters in the author's notes and inserting terrible Linkin Park song lyrics everywhere.


	3. Battle at the training ground!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After passing Orochimaru's deadly teamwork test, Kankuro and his team must survive their training, missions, and life with their new sensei.

The last three scrolls come easy. Number 11 doesn't even have a clue written on the inside and Anko whoops with joy at the end of their test. They're dirty and scratched and Tsuzumi has a glorious bruise blossoming across one sharp cheekbone, but they're alive and alive together. Kankuro closes his eyes and drops backwards on the cold ground. Immediately he’s joined by Anko and Tsuzumi, the girl flopping over his stomach with a tired groan and his other teammate collapsing next to them.

“That,” says Anko, “was ridiculous.”

It's not the toughest thing Kankuro has ever done in his life, but it's up there. He doesn't think he'll ever forget Anko’s screech of rage when he pushed her into a river. (They'd been training, leading her and Tsuzumi through some of Suna’s katas that she'd caught him doing and when he went to adjust her stance had promptly pushed her backwards and into the water.)

Next to them there's a whirr of a shunshin, leaves scattering at Orochimaru's feet, and their sensei regards the pile of children warily. All three look up at him, then at each other, and start laughing. Orochimaru lifts one delicate eyebrow.

“Sorry sensei,” Anko snorts, “you just looked like you thought we were gonna lay on you too.”

Orochimaru lets out a long suffering sigh and asks for the scrolls they collected. The team pulls the eleven they found together from various pouches and pockets and a couple of sealing scrolls and for a brief moment Kankuro sees a flash of  _ victory _ behind their teacher’s eyes; then, he pulls out the twelfth and final scroll and sets it firmly in Orochimaru's hand.

“Where'd you find a twelfth scroll Saito?” Tsuzumi asks curiously.

“A friendly snake. I gave him some life advice in exchange for it.”

The truth is stranger than fiction after all, and Anko kicks him swiftly in the shins. “Tell the truth moron.”

Orochimaru shakes his head. The man is dressed in the standard Jounin uniform of Konoha today, rather than one of his fancier outfits. “Congratulations, I suppose you passed my test.”

Anko rolls herself off of Kankuro's stomach and leaps to her feet with an excited shout. He swears she jumps at least two feet into the air through sheer willpower and Tsuzumi is fast to join her. They spin through the dust together, whirling around in a circle. Kankuro can only stare at the resigned man who is now his teacher.

\---

He supposes that, with the war, D rank missions are in short supply. Their first is actually a C, delivering semi-important documents to a neighboring little town, and so is the one after that and the one after that. Their first kills happen some time around there. Tsuzumi is sheet white, blood covering the front of his clothes. Anko seems to be faring a little better. She trembles, but she seems proud of herself. There's a gash across her forehead and it leaks blood into her eyes. Orochimaru is spotless of course. He flicks the rivulets of blood running down his sword off with a deft motion before sheathing it.

“Burn the bodies, then come here. All of you.”

They destroy the evidence swiftly, then gather around their teacher. Kankuro has heard a similar speech before, from Baki, and tunes it out while Orochimaru tells his students about the nature of life and death in the shinobi world. They travel home soon enough after that. The group stays silent, even the usually jovial Tsuzumi, and travel at a slow pace for shinobi. Orochimaru seems to be giving them time to think. They make it back in one piece eventually though and they separate.

Team Four is given a brief reprieve to gather themselves back together before being sent out on a whirlwind of missions and battles. Iwa ninja break the front lines in waves and everyone is called in at some point to push them back. Kankuro has already killed more people than he wants to think about, can hardly stand to imagine how Madara did it, and Anko throws herself into insanity. Her wild laughter can be heard across the battlefields and more often than not her team joins her.

They stumble through the gates of Konoha one morning after a particularly long escort mission; one that got a little out of hand when a group of Iwa shinobi stumbled on their group, and called their sensei 'the snake freak’. Anko had taken it very personally. She's still splattered in that one's blood. Distantly, Kankuro wonders if that poor town's lord will have nightmares.

Kankuro has barely seen the tiny apartment he rented, to the point there's still two boxes of clothes left to unpack in a corner. He definitely has enough money for his first puppet, but the supplies have been hard to come by on the road. He's collected little bits, here and there, like bolts and joints from toy puppeteers and travelling merchants, but the body pieces and internal mechanisms will have to be machined by hand. Orochimaru hasn't said anything about his student's weird collecting habits, but at least he's been teaching the three of them some good taijutsu and trains them hard in between missions. While Kankuro had always been a distance fighter before, he supposes now it wouldn't be so bad if he was forced to face someone one-on-one. It is always good to have a backup plan. Their muscles stay sore well into the night, and Kankuro can’t remember the last time he spent so long doing sit ups.

He gets home late and spends the next three days of leave hand-machining puppet pieces. There are thick blocks of wood laying around that need sanding, a half finished face on the table there, cogs and gears and a million tiny metal senbon that Kankuro has definitely not pricked himself on, and a tank filled with his latest secret weapon.

On the fourth day, he goes to training ground twelve. Two sealing scrolls are strapped to his thighs. He's warming up with his typical katas when Orochimaru finds him. At first, the man just watches him. He has one of those assessing looks on his face.

“Saito-kun. Spar with me.”

Kankuro grins. “Sure. Limits?”

“Go all out. I'll fight with a handicap.”

“Are you sure?” He wants to make Orochimaru regret underestimating him, but he still forgets his body is inches shorter than it should be and it makes him look over-eager. This should be good practice.

“Just a small one. I won't draw kusanagi.”

A small one that makes a big difference. Kusanagi’s ability to cut through anything is well known. Kankuro nods to him and they form the seal of confrontation.

They come together in a whirl of sparks and bladed weaponry. Kankuro launches a volley of kunai from a scroll in his pouch and Orochimaru blocks and dodges every last one of them, showing off his eerie flexibility, and comes at him with the sheathed kusanagi.

Kankuro draws his two finished puppets in a puff of smoke. The two giant snakes, painted with red and violet streaks, circle around him dangerously. His opponent stops short for a brief second and Kankuro can see him reassessing his abilities before he comes for him again. One hand forms a series of rapid seals and lightning sparks down the length of his sword, but Kankuro has prepared for this one. Snake One (he hasn't had time to name them properly yet, but they deserve good ones) grounds itself tail down in the dirt and bites hard around the blade. Electricity passes harmlessly through it and Snake Two quickly follows up with a volley of the small metal senbon. Unable to withdraw his sword, Orochimaru deflects the attack with a kunai and flings it at Kankuro. The roar of a tornado follows after it and although Kankuro dodges the kunai, the jutsu's blast flings him backwards.

He remembers fighting with Temari fondly. The dust of the desert would get swept up in her attacks and make it hard to see without his eyes watering, but they managed it.

He remembers laughing with her as she pulled him out of a sand bank she'd pushed him into, up to his waist, with a particularly nasty centralised tornado. He had sand in his underwear for weeks afterwards, even after a dozen showers.

But, now, he rights himself as the snake Sannin's blow pushes him into the trees and Kankuro follows up by letting Snake One’s poison mist hiss out of his joints swiftly. It's colourless, odorless; a nasty paralytic and covered up by the clacking of his puppet’s joints. He leaps higher into the boughs of the trees, chakra strings straining hard to pull the puppets backwards, and before Orochimaru can follow him, Snake Two opens it's mouth wider and  _ sparks _ .

Kankuro has to admit, the resulting explosion was a little more out of control than he'd really planned. For a heartbeat he thinks he's actually killed Orochimaru, his weird Sensei, the snake sage, but the man staggers out of the blast range looking a little singed but ultimately no more worse for wear.

The boy drops out of his defensive position in the tree and hares over to Orochimaru.

“Shit! Are you okay?! That was way bigger than I'd anticipated it would get-- I'm sorry!”

He flinches a little when Orochimaru's hand comes up, but all he does is eye the slightly burnt looking ends of his long hair. In fact, Kankuro would swear Orochimaru looks actually a little bit proud.

“Where did you learn to use puppets like that?”

“I just...saw it. Before.” Kankuro shrugs, pulling his snakes in close to assess the damage. 

They don't seem to have suffered the explosion too badly, although there are scorch marks around Snake One's mouth.

“You're a war orphan, aren't you?”

Kankuro nods. Orphaned at five, brought to Konoha and enrolled in the academy, graduated at eight. He has access to his own, basic personnel file after all. The orphanage had foisted it off on him for filing after he'd become a Genin.

“Why are you asking?”

Orochimaru turns away from him and pushes kusanagi back into his belt. “Were you from the Suna border?”

“You didn't answer my question.”

“I want to know if you've seen Suna’s puppet corps before.”

“Something like that.” Shrugging again, Kankuro stores his puppets away.  _ Let them make their own conclusions _ , he thinks to himself. “Is that everything you needed, sensei?”

\---

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiles warmly across the table. The smoke from his pipe hangs thickly in the air, but not unpleasantly. On the other side Orochimaru doesn't quite squirm in his seat, but the corners of his eyes are a little more pinched than usual. His mouth is less of an emotionless line than it is an unhappy downward slant.

“So, what do you think of your Genin team?”

Orochimaru takes a deep, steadying breath. “Sarugaku-kun is a skilled close to mid range fighter. His affinity seems to be for fire jutsu and his technical skills are good. He's mastered most fire jutsu I've given him to learn. Anko-chan has… become very attached to my snake techniques. She is proficient with them and taijutsu. And even though she does threaten to murder her teammates regularly, I would dare say she is protective of them.”

Sarutobi nods for him to continue when the snake sannin pauses in thought.

“Saito-kun is more… difficult to comprehend. He is an excellent long range fighter, with passable defensive skills in close combat. Somehow, he has mastered Suna's puppet corps techniques, and very nearly blew me and a training ground up yesterday. During their test, he broke every single one of my genjutsu I was using to hide and could gauge the rough location of my presence.”

“I see.” The Hokage’s eyebrows have squirreled upwards and he looks more than a little concerned. “Is he loyal to Konoha?”

It takes Orochimaru a second to reply. “I have no reason to doubt his loyalty. I believe he lived near the Suna border, and may have stolen some of their puppet techniques. He uses two identical snakes.”

Placated, the Hokage goes back to smiling. “You didn't tell me what you really think of them, though!”

“Hokage-sama... I still don't believe I'm the best choice for a Genin team. They're rambunctious and irritating and don't want to listen to me.”

“They're children, Orochimaru-kun. They're all like that.”

“I don't think I was, Sarutobi-sensei.”

“Orochimaru-kun, I fully believe you were spawned as a very small adult, and have never actually been a child.”

The two men nodded sagely, their expressions serious, before both began to chortle. Orochimaru hid his grinning face behind a delicate hand while Sarutobi let himself snigger openly and loudly.

“Well, then,” Sarutobi continued after their laughter had quieted, “now that that is out of the way, next month we're going to be holding the Chuunin exams-- and I'd like your team to take part.”

Orochimaru fixes him with a long, hard look before nodding slightly. “They're ready for them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whenever I paste into the rtf editor it makes all of my paragraphs double wide or something, so I have to go through and fix the formatting at some point, unless y'all prefer it with the spaced out breaks.


	4. Kankuro's secret technique, and the Chuunin exams begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that they've been nominated for the Chuunin exams, Kankuro's new team trains harder than ever.

He finds his team sparring in an otherwise empty training ground. Tsuzumi’s powerful explosions leave craters in the hard ground, each going off one after another, narrowly missing Anko, who darts like a snake between each blast. The telltale hiss coming from the two huge snake puppets means there's going to be a lot more than just a couple of explosive tags in a couple of seconds, and Orochimaru grabs both Anko and Tsuzumi by their collars and hauls them backwards swiftly before--

 

_ Click! _

 

**_BOOM_ **

 

“Saito-kun! Please refrain from blowing your teammates to smithereens.”

 

The boy grins, a little embarrassed, if judging by the dusting of a blush on his cheeks. “Sorry, sensei. They wanted to see what Soba and Udon can do.”

 

“You named your snakes after noodles.” It’s not a question, or even really surprised-sounding.

 

Anko, now recovered from Orochimaru saving her from the blast, gives Kankuro a hard shove to the side. He staggers and sits down on the body of a coiled puppet.

 

“I told him they were stupid names, but he insisted.”

 

“I think they suit them, Anko-chan,” Tsuzumi laughs from where he's collecting scattered kunai and shuriken from the field. He flies through hand seals, then smooths the shredded ground over with an Earth Release technique.

 

“Yeah cause you're a fucking dweeb.”

 

“Language, Anko-chan,” Orochimaru sighs, then takes a seat on the ground along with his students. He waits for Tsuzumi to finish before continuing. “The Hokage has nominated you for the Chuunin exams next month. Along with you will be Team Three, Seven, Eight and Ten.”

 

“That's Morino, Gekkō and Tokara. Hatake, Uchiha and Nohara. Guy, Shiranui and Ebisu. And Ranka, Hyuuga and Aburame,” Tsuzumi supplies, counting the names off on his fingers.

 

Anko shudders slightly at Tsuzumi's list of candidates. “Lots of scary people in there this year.”

 

Kankuro blinks at her. He recognizes a few, and the clan names of others, and wonders how he didn't notice any of them while he was in class. “Kakashi Hatake right? Isn't he like, six?”

 

“Exactly!” Anko throws her arms in the air, then throws  _ herself _ in her  _ entirety _ downwards onto him. “They say he's a prodigy.”

 

“Then you'll just have to train until you're better than him.” Their teacher holds out three small slips of paper. “Our first step is chakra nature.”

 

Before, Kankuro's affinity had been special. His family was dual-natured, all the way back past his grandfather and it had been passed on to him and his siblings.

 

They take the paper and Orochimaru demonstrates the proper technique for channelling raw chakra into it. His paper slices neatly in half.

 

“Now, what can you tell me about my affinity?”

 

Kankuro looks to his teammates, but neither seem to know. “Wind. You're wind natured.”

 

“Correct, Saito-kun. It's rather rare in Fire Country and more than likely all three of you will be fire natured.”

 

He explains the jan-ken-pon style circle of natures, which Kankuro has heard many times before, so Kankuro zones out and focuses on his little slip of parchment like paper. He expects the slice that appears down the middle, and expected it to stop there, however when the paper begins to smoulder it takes all his willpower not to drop it. Beside him, Anko pushes herself into his personal space and shouts for their sensei.

 

“How interesting. It seems Saito-kun here is dual-natured.”

 

Orochimaru's eyes have lit up with fascination. Kankuro watches him warily and in his hands the paper burns to ash. Anko and Tsuzumi’s also eventually burn away to nothing, but Orochimaru's golden eyes stay on him.

 

“Orochimaru-sensei, what does dual-natured mean?” Anko asks. She scatters the dust in her hands.

 

“As you know, all shinobi have a nature that increases the strength of their jutsu. Anyone can learn a jutsu not of their nature, but it won't be as strong as one of it. Dual-natures, although technically a kekkai genkai,  can be used by anyone. For example…”

 

Quickly he forms the bird seal and around him the wind whips into a sharp frenzy. Then he changes it to tiger as the wind sweeps around their feet, steadily getting hotter.

 

“You may want to stand back.  _ Scorch Release: Razed Earth technique!” _

 

The trio leap backwards as the ground bursts into what looks suspiciously like liquid fire. It forms a perfect circle around their teacher until what's left of the ground is nothing but a blackened mess.

 

“Saito-kun here should be able to do that without channelling both types of chakra separately. It should come fairly naturally for you.”

 

He'd seen his father's Magnet Release before, and knew of the Iron Sand technique when Sasori was controlling the third Kazekage. He's never put any effort into learning to use it himself, though because he's always had Gaara at his side. Now, though, any weapon is a good one.

 

They spend the next month training harder than Kankuro remembers doing in either life. He spars with Anko and Tsuzumi and Orochimaru, crams studying techniques and scrolls, stays up late into the night throwing paper shuriken at his teammates, and practices their stealth and assassination techniques until his feet and fingers bleed.

 

Although shinobi don't really get a day off, Orochimaru lets them take a weekend to rest and recover. The exams are in a couple of days and Kankuro is starting to feel his nerves build. 

 

He stops in the ramen place that Naruto loved so much. It's a little melancholy without the enthusiastic blond and his troupe of friends, but he orders anyway. Halfway through his meal, a woman with a shock of bright red hair pushes the curtain aside and takes a seat near him. Kankuro's heart beats a hole in his chest. She's loud and boisterous, slamming the table when she orders, and she downs three bowls of tonkotsu ramen before he's even done with the one.

 

“You struggling there, kiddo?” She asks him, a brilliant grin on her face.

 

“It's just… a lot of food.” He answers honestly.Kushina laughs bodily. She slaps him on the back with one hand with enough force to nearly knock him into his broth. 

 

“Maybe for someone as little as you! How old are you, even?” He wants to answer with thirty. 

 

“About eight. My name is Saito.”

 

“One of Orochimaru's kids! Minato was telling me you guys are gonna be his competition in the exams. I'm Kushina! Kushina Uzumaki, and I’m going to be the first female Hokage!”

 

He bows as well as he can in the seat next to Naruto's mother and they go back to eating in companionable silence. 

 

\---

 

The written portion of the exam is easier than the last time he took it, but it's much more serious, too. They expect him to actually write out the answers, so they're easier -- something a Chuunin should know by instinct or practice -- but actually getting them right is the hard part. He wracks his brain for the answer to the tenth and last question, noticing Anko a few seats away legitimately bash her head against the table a few times. She has her hair up in a bun for once. Tsuzumi seems to have finished, if his face down paper says anything. 

 

Finally, the second proctor comes to collect them. She's an Inuzuka judging by the clan facial markings. She barrels through the window, huge black dog in tow, and tells them about the second portion of the exam. Even from here he can tell Anko is smitten with her. She leads the group to a very familiar forest and Kankuro realizes that Konoha must use a standard for their exams, instead of a rotating series of them. Anko shoots him a grin and Tsuzumi's already giving him an OK signal. A third go around the forest of death, but battling other teams? No problem.

 

Before they enter the forest, he puts his face paint back on. He doesn't use the same dark purple this time, but uses blue instead. Kankuro rings his eyes with sharp points and paints chevrons on his cheeks and ends the face with a diamond on his chin.

 

“Are you painting your face?!” Anko asks, incredulously, as he's rinsing the colour off of his brush.

 

“It's war paint, thank you, and it's traditional for puppeteers.”

 

“You look kinda like Orochimaru-sensei.” Tsuzumi says. 

 

His kunoichi teammate nods at him and then sits down in front of him. “Do me next. I want purple. Like my hair. But not the stupid cheek marks.”

 

“What about a bunch of hearts instead?”

 

She lands a solid kick in his chest and he gives up the ribbing. Soon Anko’s face has Orochimaru's distinctive clan markings, and then so does Tsuzumi's. He supposes they make quite the team now.

 

Their first battle is against Ibiki, who looks almost babyish without the mess of scars covering his face, Gekkō and Tokara.  The gourd on Tokara’s back gives Kankuro a cold pause, but it turns out to be full of water for some form of whip technique that catches them off guard. Tsuzumi's fire techniques keep their cover, away from Gekkō's kenjutsu and Ibiki’s kunai flurry; but they're on strict, incapacitate only rules so when he summons his puppets, he doesn't immediately blow the place sky high. The fire dies down, leaving only a smoldering black line and Anko launches into the fight. Her hands and forearms transform into long snakes that snap and grab for Ibiki, driving him backwards, and Tokara goes for Tsuzumi.

 

Left with Gekkō, Kankuro sends Udon and Soba in. The boy swings his sword, but after training against Orochimaru and Kusanagi it's no trouble for Soba to snatch the blade from his hands and fling it aside. Gekkō turns to chase it down but Udon is faster, sweeping him up in a mass of coils and tightening to the point of suffocation.

 

“Give up, Gekkō-san! I don't want to crush you.”

 

“I give! I give!” Comes the pained cry from between his snake’s coils.

 

Beside them, Anko launches Ibiki with a powerful kick into the solid base of a tree and with that he's out for the count. Tsuzumi seems frustrated because now every kunai he launches is coated in explosive tags, leaving craters in the ground around them, and it's a wonder that they've missed the other competitors. Tokara deflects most of the projectiles by using the water whips like an extension of his own arms. Kankuro takes a quick second to reseal the snakes into their scrolls, then faces Tokara with Anko and Tsuzumi at his side.

 

“What's the plan?” Tsuzumi asks, “Every fire jutsu I throw at him gets absorbed by his blasted water whip.”

 

“He can't keep it up for much longer. The gourd must be heavy and you've been throwing him around a ton.”

 

Kankuro nods along with Anko’s reasoning. Tokara is breathing heavily, having used a lot of chakra to keep the whips active as well as dodging Tsuzumi's explosions and fire jutsu. In a real battle, Kankuro would have probably tried to trip him up. The boy likely didn't know enough about chakra control to know how to sever the strings he used. But, that would be cheating here. They  _ were  _ supposed to be showing teamwork after all.

 

\---

 

Thanks to some quick thinking and a subtle genjutsu cast by Tsuzumi, they knock Tokara back into one of the craters left by Tsuzumi’s explosive tag barrage. With the water in his goard dissipating, he’s left defenseless and Team Four are declared the winners of the team battles.

 

The proctor tells them that they have another month to train and prepare for the single battles. Exhibition matches, just like last time, but just in front of the Hokage and their jounin teachers this time. Not for the first time, Kankuro breathes a sigh of relief that the chuunin exams in war time aren’t hosted in front of people from other villages or nobles again. Hearing the news of their success, Anko and Tsuzumi launch themselves at Kankuro out of sheer glee. He barely dodges Anko, both of them weak at the knees from chakra overuse, but Tsuzumi pushes him to the floor from behind and Anko just makes it worse by dropping herself on the two boys.

 

“You two are like a squishy throne.” She laughs, letting her hair down from it’s bun.

 

Soon after the dogpile begins, a whirling shunshin signals Orochimaru’s appearance. “Well done, all three of you.” He says, almost proudly. Then he gets a good look at their painted faces.

 

At first Kankuro isn’t sure if he’s actually going to straight up murder all three of them right here in the forest, jounin sensei milling about around him be damned, but the shaking in his shoulders eventually stops. Anko grins up at him obliviously from her position, cross legged on Tsuzumi’s back. He looks almost vulnerable, and then the moment passes.

 

“Get off of the ground and stop making complete fools of yourselves.”

 

He leads the trio out of the forest and back towards Konoha itself. The bustle of the village is a welcome sight after being stuck in the forest for the third time. Kankuro walks with his hands linked behind his head.

 

“Your next challenge are single battles. I highly recommend training techniques that your teammates haven’t seen, as you are likely to be set against them,” Orochimaru tells them, “I will be teaching the three of you separately, and for an even length of time.”

 

Immediately, Anko latches herself onto Orochimaru’s arm. “DIBS.” She shouts, giving the two boys a glare that could kill a weaker man. 

 

“All yours,” says Tsuzumi. “I have a plan already to beat you guys.”

 

Kankuro as well, knows who he’s asking for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I chose to give Kankuro the Scorch Release ability because it fits with his family trait of everybody having a dual affinity. IDK if the Kazekage position is a family thing or not cause it damn well feels like it. It also allows me some freedom with the technique because it's only been seen a couple of times. Again, playing fast and loose with Naruto canon.
> 
> I think this is almost the end of my buffer chapters so I'll actually have to put effort into writing this now lol.


	5. Difficult decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kankuro finds himself at two metaphorical knifepoints. His secret is exposed, but can he trust the person he's forced to tell?

It takes him three days to beg Kushina Uzumaki into teaching him sealing. In the end, he ends up promising to teach her how to use his chakra strings, and make her a puppet -- but she wants it as a toy, not a weapon, which is odd but fine with him. His lessons turn out to be more painful than he expected. Kushina’s wrath at a mistake or stray line isn’t simply through words or disappointment, but instead with a sharp swing of her fists. Minato catches her teaching him one day and double takes comically at the paint still ringing Kankuro’s eyes. He knows what he looks like. He has bright green eyes in this body and the dark blue paint makes them stand out. His hair is even getting a little long. It’s starting to droop around his ears.

 

“Isn’t this cheating a little bit?” Minato laughs, ruffling Kankuro’s fluffy hair.

 

“No, no see. He promised to show me some of his own tricks, you know?” Kushina says slyly.

 

“His own tricks? Orochimaru taught you something good then, huh?”

 

Kankuro smirks wryly. “Oh it’s nothing sensei taught me. But I can’t show you because _that_ actually would be cheatin’.” 

 

Minato gives him the most ridiculous pair of puppy dog eyes he’s ever seen, and takes a seat at the dinner table next to Kushina. “I promise not to tell my cute little students!”

 

“It’s just chakra strings Micchan. He’s also making me a puppet. And it’s going to be adorable!” She slams both fists on the table. Kushina has her heart set on something cute and vaguely fuzzy, which is completely outside of Kankuro’s skillset, but for her he’ll try his best. Minato leans over and takes a good look at Kankuro’s seal work.

 

“This is good! You’re really getting the hang of this.”

 

It helped that Kankuro had spent a long time looking this up on his own, and had some help from Naruto, but the old seal masters were dead in his time and neither of them had had a proper teacher. He was still surprised nothing Naruto had made had blown up more seriously than that one time with the paint grenades.

 

It took Kankuro almost a week to get the seals he had made perfect, and by that time he’d learnt to dodge Kushina’s more wild swings towards his head. At least, that was until she started aiming for other parts of him. His entire left arm was feeling particularly bruised and sore today. 

 

He's trying to massage out said when Orochimaru comes to collect him. All he gets for his trouble is a bemused smirk, and then asked to follow him to one of the empty training grounds. The journey there is uneventful. There are far fewer odd looks and subtle, disgusted glares than there were when Kankuro first started as a genin. They weren’t hard to miss. Existing as Gaara’s brother, even if he didn’t have a tailed beast sealed inside him, made people give him a fairly wide berth. After so many years and training as a ninja, anyone could have picked up a sixth sense for the feeling of angered eyes on their back.

 

They spend a long time working on Kankuro's physical stamina. He has chakra control down to a fine art, and long distance attacks are his forte, but a solid punch to the face is almost enough to take him out of the game entirely.  After that, they experiment with the finer points off his dual natures. He learns to curl fire around his fist and down his arms without burning himself or leaving scorch marks on his clothes. Orochimaru shows him a powerful earth dome jutsu to protect himself from Soba and Udon's explosions. Then, he finds himself showing Orochimaru the insides of his snake puppets and their inner mechanisms. After a long day of driving himself to the edge of exhaustion, Orochimaru ruffles his hair before disappearing into the night.

 

\---

 

“So, what's the plan?”

 

More than a little nervously, Kankuro hands over the two scrolls to Kushina. She unfurls them on the table in front of her and casts an assessing eye over the seal patterns inscribed on them. She hums thoughtfully. Then, with a flourish, grabs a brush and a pot of black ink from a drawer on the other side.

 

“I hope you don’t mind if I make a quick couple of corrections! These are really good but your array here -- it’s gonna leak chakra like nobody's business, you know.” She points out the issues on the scroll and Kankuro waves a hand dismissively. 

 

“No, go ahead,” he says, “You’re the expert here.”

 

“I take it you want this smaller one on your skin somewhere?” She finished the smaller seal and set it aside, then pulled the larger one closer. 

 

“Yeah. I want that one on my wrist, but I dunno where to put the bigger one.”

 

She held the bigger seal up against the light and measured it against Kankuro himself. “What about your back?”

 

“Can’t. I’ve got an old seal on my back, takin’ up most of the space.” 

 

He gestures to his back with a thumb and Kushina lowers the scroll. She squints at him dangerously before putting it down. Kankuro grins, colour flooding his cheeks. He can feel her judging glare even as he turns around to stare out the windows in nervousness

 

“What do  _ you _ think?” He forces a laugh. “I’m thinking my arm, kinda where Orochimaru-sensei has his--”

 

“Show me.”

 

He pulls his sleeve up and gestures vaguely to his forearm. “Here, sorta, you’ve seen his summoning tattoo right?”

 

Kushina’s fist makes a solid thunk on his head, knocking him to his knees on the floor. His eyes water and he rubs the bruising flesh.

 

“That smarts!”

 

“Good!” Kushina’s hair seems to flicker in waves around her head and Kankuro flinches away. It’s as bad as Lee and Gai’s area of effect genjutsu with that damn sunrise; but much scarier. “Now show me that seal!”

 

He knows it was a mistake to mention it to her, but nevertheless he pulls his t-shirt off over his head. Kankuro sucks in a deep breath, stands up, and turns his back to her. Kushina doesn’t even try to stifle her surprised gasp. She slams her hands against the table and vaults over it. Already Kankuro is regretting his decision and wonders at his chances of getting out of the village gates before being soundly murdered by the woman behind him.

 

“The negative space is hiraishin text…” she mutters, thumb brushing the ink lines that Naruto painted on his skin. It feels like a lifetime ago. “You can’t have done this, it’s way too advanced. The spirals are impressive… It’s definitely an Uzumaki’s technique. Are these tails?”

 

Kankuro grits his teeth. He can feel her counting them under her breath. This will give away the whole game, he knows, because she’s not stupid. It’s only a matter of time before she figures it out.

 

“Kushina-san… I need to tell you something.”

 

She grips his shoulders and spins him around. He’s never seen her so unbelievably angry as she is right now. Even her hair isn’t wild. 

 

“Who are you?” she snarls. Nervous sweat trickles down the back of his spine. He swallows, stalling for a second, then tells her everything.

 

“My name,” he starts with, “is Kankuro.”

 

\---

 

Later, he finds himself sitting on a long, stone bridge, overlooking a river that trailed its way through Konoha. The sun is starting to set, so the sky is a vibrant orange with fluffy clouds leaving trails in the sky. He runs his hands through his hair and sighs, sounding like the old man he feels like inside. People mill around in the distance around him. Civilians, with their barely touched chakra coils, and fellow shinobi, who burn brightly like blossoming flowers. Their loss weighs heavily on him, but as he grips his hair tightly between his fingers he reminds himself that this is why he's here. These people, with their brief lives, are who he's here to save. He can't stop everything, but he _can_ try.

 

“Penny for your thoughts, Saito-kun?”

 

Orochimaru sits next to him. His movements are deceptively graceful and easy-going. Kankuro gives him a hard stare but his sensei remains passive.

 

“I was just thinking,” Kankuro starts to say, but then pauses in mid-thought. “But I doubt you really care about it, eh, sensei. Why’d you really come to check up on me?”

 

“Am I not allowed to show concern for my students?”

 

“No offense, sensei, but you don't seem the type to care about my mental well being -- just if I can do my job.”

 

Orochimaru scoffed lightly. “That is true, however your mental health also plays a part in whether you can do your work or not. Life on the battlefield is difficult for all shinobi.”

 

“Alright, alright. I'm an orphan, sensei. My mother died in childbirth. It was just my dad and my sister, my brother and me. And then dad died in the war. And then my sister died and I don't know what happened to my brother. And now it's just me.” Kankuro thinks he sounds a little accusing when he lets Orochimaru have what’s bothering him. His sensei blinks at him, then gently bites down on his own thumb. He smears a short line of blood across the seal inked on his skin and with a little puff of smoke, he holds a small white snake in his hands.

 

“Did you know, Saito-kun, that the snake is often regarded as a sign of immortality and rebirth?” He hands the tiny snake to Kankuro, who lets it curl around his fingers curiously. “It's because of their shed skin. My goal in life is to see the cycle of reincarnation with my own eyes, and to break it. I want to live long enough to see my parents again. No matter how long it takes.”

 

Kankuro has to fight the urge to to slap himself and rid his brain of whatever genjutsu had clearly taken hold of him. Instead he bites his tongue lightly, until he tastes blood, but Orochimaru is still sitting there, with the same curious expression on his face, so he accepts his current reality. Orochimaru is opening up to him.

 

“Thanks, sensei,” says Kankuro. He passes the snake back to it's master. “I've made up my mind. I'm gonna help you -- and I'm sure Anko and Tsuzumi will want to as well. We're gonna kick reincarnation’s ass.”

 

Orochimaru smiles a little. It's strained, like it doesn't sit right on his face, but happy. He pats Kankuro's shoulder and stands up from the stone bridge. “Danzo-sama wants to speak with you, after the chuunin exams. I can take you to the building.”

 

He watches Orochimaru leap down onto the water, and walk away with almost boneless grace. He looks more like he's floating across the top of the river than walking over it.

 

Then, frowning, Kankuro considers his newest dilemma.

 

What to do about Root? And can it help him further his goal?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, all will be revealed soon. I had to trim a couple of segments and move some parts around to make for a compelling couple of cliff-hangers, but I think it turned out okay. (I actually cannot remember if I've mentioned Kankuro's eye colour before, and it took me a while to decide to make it green instead of brown, so if they're brown earlier in the fic consider it a continuity error I have to fix.)
> 
> Next time, Kankuro reveals all, the one-on-one battles begin, and Danzo's scheming comes to a head.


End file.
